Weeks ago the 32 Observations series looked at an interesting tidbit about each starting quarterback in the league. Many weeks have passed which means some quarterbacks have played better, some have played worse and some are around the same. This week the 32 observations will again be about quarterbacks, and either how their performance has changed over time, or just another interesting note to impress your friends. Any reference to the first half of the season refers to Week’s 1-6 while the second half is Week’s 7-12.

AFC East

Buffalo Bills: Ryan Fitzpatrick’s average depth of target has diminished from 7.1 over the first half of the season to 5.2 over the second half.

New England Patriots: Of Tom Brady’s 3,299 yards this season, 399 of them have come on passes where the time to throw was 1.5 seconds or less. He has completed 50 of 54 passes during this short time period for three touchdowns.

New York Jets: Typically, a quarterback has a lower completion percentage on deeper passes than short ones. However, Mark Sanchez has a completion percentage of 54.9% on passes where the ball is in the air for 5 yards or less, and 55.9% on passes that are in the air for 6 yards or more.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens: Over the first half of the season Joe Flacco averaged 8.2 yards per attempt. Over the second half that has decreased to 6.3. The 1.9 yard drop off is the largest in the league.

Cincinnati Bengals: While Andy Dalton was having a fine season over the first nine weeks, with a touchdown on 4.9% of throws and an interception on 3.9%, he has really stepped up his game over the past three games. Over those games he has had a passing touchdown on 10.0% of his attempts, and an interception on 0.0% of his pass attempts.

Cleveland Browns: One way the Browns’ offense has improved the second half of the year so far is they are dropping less passes. Over the first half, 10.4% of Brandon Weeden’s passes were dropped, but over the second half it has decreased to 5.4%.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger has the lowest time to sack at 2.3 seconds.

AFC South

Houston Texans: Matt Schaub has seen his average depth of target increase from 6.7 over the first half of the season to 8.2 over the second half.

Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck has more yards than any other quarterback on third downs, with 944.

Jacksonville Jaguars: One reason Blaine Gabbert’s numbers didn’t improve all that much in 2012 was that 9.7% of his passes have been dropped, the most by any quarterback over the past five years.

Tennessee Titans: Prior to his injury, Jake Locker had an average depth of target of 6.6 yards. Since coming back from his shoulder injury, that has increased to 8.6 yards.

AFC West

Denver Broncos: Even though six teams have attempted more receiver screens than the Broncos, Peyton Manning has more passing yards on receiver screens than any other team, at 311. This has come on 27 completions and 31 attempts.

Kansas City Chiefs: There have been 12 times this year where Matt Cassel attempted a pass where the ball was in the air for 29 yards or more. He has yet to complete a pass on those attempts, and has one interception.

Oakland Raiders: Carson Palmer had an interception rate of just 1.5% over the start of the season, but over the second half more than doubled that to 3.5%.

San Diego Chargers: In the first quarter of games, Phillip Rivers had 8.9 yards per attempt, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. Over the rest of the games, he has 6.6 yards per attempt, 10 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys: Tony Romo leads the league on slant attempts, completions and yards at 39, 30 and 333. However, 22 quarterbacks this year have scored a touchdown on a slant pass and Romo is not one of them.

New York Giants: While Eli Manning has been under pressure 99 times this year, which is close to average, he gets sacked on only 11.3% of the plays he is under pressure. That is the lowest rate in the league.

Philadelphia Eagles: There have been 63 plays where a defender logged a hit during a Michael Vick pass attempt without getting a sack. On those 63 attempts, Vick has completed 22 of those passes for 321 yards. He has been hit 10 more times than any other quarterback, despite missing the past two and a half games.

Washington Redskins: Over the first half of the season, Robert Griffin III averaged a touchdown every 3.1% of his pass attempts. Over the second half of the season, that has more than doubled to 7.6%.

NFC North

Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler has seen his average depth of target go from 9.1 over the first half of the season to 6.7 over the second half.

Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford has 1,284 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception in the fourth quarter of games. In all other quarters he has 2,145 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers has 506 passing yards on plays with four or five wide receiver sets, which is the most in the league. He has done that on 73 attempts for 53 completions and five touchdowns.

Minnesota Vikings: Of Christian Ponder’s 2,186 passing yards, 455 of them have come on passes where he threw the ball behind the line of scrimmage, which is the most in the league.

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan has a 72.4% completion percentage in the first half of games which is much higher than his 63.4% in the second half. However he has 10.8 yards per completion in the first half compared to 12.9 in the second half.

Carolina Panthers:Cam Newton averages 9.8 yards per attempt on his first down passes, but 7.0 on the remaining downs.

New Orleans Saints: Drew Brees is a perfect seven for seven on corner routes this year, for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Josh Freeman has become the king of throwing go routes. While he is tied for the most attempts at 48, he also has the most completions at 18 and yards at 700.

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals: Of the three Cardinals quarterbacks, Ryan Lindley has both the lowest time to throw at 2.4, and the highest depth of target at 8.8.

St. Louis Rams: Quarterback Sam Bradford has an 83.8 Quarterback Rating by both the NFLs method as well as the PFF Quarterback Rating that takes into account dropped passes, throw aways, spikes and yards in the air.

San Francisco 49ers: Over the season, Alex Smith was having 5.5% of his pass attempts dropped, which is better than the average quarterback. Colin Kaepernick is having 12.1% of his pass attempts dropped, which is the most in the league.

Seattle Seahawks: Over the first seven games of the season, Russell Wilson averaged 1.1 touchdowns and 1.0 interception per game. Over the past four, he has averaged 2.25 touchdowns and 0.25 interceptions per game.

Testimonials

Sunday Night Football preparation takes endless hours of film study for just two teams. After reading your game reports today, I cannot imagine how many hours of work went into what I just read. There is no other football site that comes close. Congratulations and thanks for your detailed efforts. You make my life so much easier as I try to follow all 32 teams.— Cris Collinsworth - NBC Sunday Night Football

Pro Football Focus is not only a tremendous site but its an invaluable tool in researching and learning more about the intricacies of the National Football League. On a weekly basis our staff at DEC Management use PFF for analytics and playing data of our clients. You get more than your moneys worth on a regular basis with Pro Football Focus.— David Canter - NFL Agent

Pro Football Focus is an invaluable resource in preparing to broadcast NFL games each week. It's given me the ability to better inform my audience about the strengths and weaknesses of the Bengals and their opponents, as well as providing insight into the strategies used by the league's offensive and defense coaches. But you don't have to cover the NFL to enjoy the content provided by PFF. Any avid football fan will enjoy the premium stats that only PFF provides as well as the interesting…— Dan Hoard - Cincinnati Bengals Radio Broadcaster

I don't have a lot of daily go-to NFL websites, but ProFootballFocus is one of them. It's got vital information about the NFL that you can't find anywhere else. In a short time, it's become an essential niche site we need in the football-reporting business.— Peter King - SI.com

ProFootballFocus is our first-stop when we begin contract preparation for NFL veterans. The unique, common sense approach they take to statistical analysis and player comparisons is simply unmatched by any other service out there, and unless we literally break down every player, on every play as they do, the statistics they compile cannot be found elsewhere. In our 25 years representing NFL players, we have never come across a better source to truly determine player production and comparisons.— Paul Sheehy - President ProStar SportsAgency

Each year, my respect for Pro Football Focus and it’s analysis grows. Now, it’s off the charts. Within 24 hours of every game, PFF puts into perspective how every player on every team ranks and breaks down in depth what they accomplish and how they fail on the field. Where this is valuable is identifying the young players who are becoming stars or the others who may be struggling. It’s a great tool for any football fan wanting to get inside the game.— John Clayton - ESPN

There's no better resource for analytical research than ProFootballFocus.com. The site provides information that forces you to think outside the box and helps you view the game through a different prism.— Manish Mehta - New York Daily News

The ONLY outside source that has ever directly benefited our contract negotiations with NFL teams.
Pro Football Focus has literally helped us put dollars directly into our clients' pockets.
Knowledge is power, and the power of tracking every single player on every single snap of every NFL game is absolutely immeasurable.— Dave Butz (SportsStars Inc.) NFL Agent

Numbers can lie. But PFF breaks the numbers down to paint the truth without bias. When I'm looking to enhance my game I go to PFF. It's the raw truth that numbers won't show you.— Lawrence Jackson - Former Seattle and Detroit DE

The content provided by Pro Football Focus is the lifeblood for what I do. I'm a numbers guy. I love the perspective, breakdown and numbers that PFF provides. Nobody else does what PFF does. Keep the info coming!— Lance McAlister - 700 WLW, Cincinnati